Scandal-scarred Lewandowski still has open line to Trump

Corey Lewandowski still has former President Donald Trump’s ear months after being accused of sexually harassing a woman at a Las Vegas fundraiser.

The allegations brought an abrupt end to him overseeing Mr. Trump’s Make America Great Again Action super PAC and advising South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem. It also stirred speculation the smash-mouth operative would never find his way back into the former president’s good graces.

“I can tell you my last communication with him was less than 72 hours ago,” Mr. Lewandowski told The Washington Times last week.

“I would like to say that President Trump and I are personal friends,” he said. “Regardless of his stature and all he has been able to accomplish, friends continue to maintain relationships in the best and the worst of times.”

Mr. Lewandowski has taken a step back from the rough-and-tumble world of day-to-day politics since Politico broke the news in September that Trashelle Odom, the wife of Idaho construction executive John Odom, accused Mr. Lewandowski of sexual harassment. She said he repeatedly touched her, spoke to her in sexually graphic terms and stalked her at a fundraiser in Las Vegas.

Mr. Lewandowski said that these days, he is focusing more time on his wife and four children, his clients in the private sector and doling out free advice to political allies that still seek it.

In the police report, Mrs. Odom said Mr. Lewandowski told her that “he works out twice a day, that he runs 400 miles a week, and that’s why he can last for 8 hours at a time in bed.”

He told her that “he does not do anything with his wife — he gets his sex elsewhere,” said “he is very powerful and can destroy anyone” and said he was “close with President Trump and can get anyone elected or can take anyone out.”

Mrs. Odom also told police, according to their report, that Mr. Lewandowski said he was “from a bad part of Boston” and had stabbed people to death — the first victim coming when he was 10.

Mr. Lewandowski’s critics had a field day with the accusations. They say the episode shines a bright light on how bullies, sleazeballs and wannabe tough guys are attracted to and thrive in the Trump orbit.

Rick Wilson, a co-founder of the anti-Trump Lincoln Project, quipped on social media last week: “I’m not saying Corey Lewandowski is the Merrimack River Killer. I’m just saying there’s no evidence he isn’t.”

Asked about Mrs. Odom’s allegations, Mr. Lewandowski declined to share his side of the story. He referred those questions to his lawyer. Mrs. Odom’s attorney, Mark K. Taylor.

The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said the allegations against Mr. Lewandowski are still under investigation and there are no updates to announce.

“I have had very, very, limited communication with my attorneys because attorneys charge by the hour,” he said. “So I let them call me.”

His lawyer David Chesnoff, a criminal defense attorney who has represented the likes of boxer Mike Tyson, television personality Martha Stewart and rap mogul Suge Knight, did not return a phone call seeking comment. Mrs. Odom’s attorney, Mark K. Taylor, and the Las Vegas Police Department also did not respond to requests for comment.

Mr. Trump, who also has faced a number of sexual harassment claims over the years, plucked Mr. Lewandowski out of relative obscurity in 2015 when he tapped him to run his presidential campaign.

Mr. Lewandowski developed a reputation for his take-no-prisoners approach to politics and his unwavering loyalty to Mr. Trump.

He adopted the campaign mantra: “Let Trump Be Trump.”

But after rubbing some members of the Trump family and GOP officials the wrong way, Mr. Lewandowski was fired as campaign manager before Mr. Trump was formally chosen as the presidential nominee at the Republican National Convention in 2016.

There were questions over Mr. Lewandowski’s ability to navigate the Trump campaign through a general election showdown with Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. Concerns that grew in part because Mr. Lewandowski was charged with misdemeanor battery for allegedly abusing a female reporter. That charge was later dropped.

Mr. Lewandowski nonetheless remained a top surrogate for the president and was tapped to lead Make America Great Again Action.

He has been such a high-profile member of Trump’s inner circle and ranked as a political heavyweight because of his connection to Mr. Trump that he has had to repeatedly slap down rumors that he is interested in running for the Senate in New Hampshire.

“The U.S. Senate is not a place where I have any interest in serving,” he said.

Mr. Lewandowski said more of his focus has been on his family now that he is not spending as much of his time on the road.

“I have been very, very, blessed to have an incredible family,” he said. “I am very much in a good place and the people I believe are important to me and important to my life, they have gotten their renewed focus,” he said.

He said he is as busy as he has ever been.

“Politics is just one component of the many things I do,” Mr. Lewandowski said. “The private sector continues to have some amazing opportunities even though the Biden administration is trying to destroy it.”

He added that he does still share his two cents with political allies.

“I have a lot of friends who have run for office in the past, and some have been successful and some have not, but I continue to give free advice because I want to see people be successful,” he said.

Mr. Lewandowski hammered home this point during a recent appearance on the John Fredericks Radio Show.

“I’m like the freest, best, advice guy on the planet, right?” he said. “I have candidates call me all the time and I give them my best advice and I don’t charge them a dime because I don’t think it is right.”

“I’m the only dummy, and I have said this a thousand times … who helped to engineer maybe, maybe, the greatest Republican primary victory in the history of our country with Donald Trump beating the establishment and all the candidates, and I’m the only dummy who didn’t go out and make $200 million.”